Malaysia national under-21 football team
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| Nickname(s) |
Harimau Muda (Young Tigers) |
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| Association | Football Association of Malaysia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sub-confederation | AFF (Southeast Asia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Ong Kim Swee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captain | Adib Zainuddin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | National Stadium, Bukit Jalil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | MAS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First international | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Malaysia 1–1 Japan  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990) |
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| Biggest win | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malaysia 11–0 Timor-Leste  (Vientiane, Laos; 2 December 2009) |
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| Biggest defeat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Thailand 9–0 Malaysia (Bangkok, Thailand; November 1998) |
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| Asian Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 2002) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Round of 16; (2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEA Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 2001) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners; (2009, 2011) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
Malaysia national under-23 football team
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Malaysia national under-23 football team (also known as Malaysia Under-23, Malaysia U-23 or Malaysia Olympic Team) is the former youth national football team represents Malaysia in international football competitions in Olympic Games, Asian Games and SEA Games, as well as any other under-23 international football tournaments until it was succeded by the new Malaysia national under-22 football team.
It was managed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). The team won the 2009 and 2011 SEA Games gold medal.
After Harimau Muda project disbanded, FAM needed a fresh start for the U-23 team where a new set of players was brought in for the team with the creation of SEA Games Project 2017 team. The players in the current team mainly consist of players with age around 18 to 21 years old where the oldest players will be below the age requirement of 22 years old when 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia started. With bigger pool of players within age of 18-22, the team will also play in other age-restricted tournament as the younger side such as U-21 and U-22 when needed.
The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Malaysia national football team. It is for players aged 23 and less, however 3 senior players can also be selected to play. Also in existence are national teams for Under-20s, Under-17s and Under-15s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, hence it is possible for one to play for the U-23s, senior side and then again for the U-23s.
After the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) aiming to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympic. Thus, the FAM spent about US$6 million and continue the contract of Malaysia youth coach, Hatem Souissi. Then FAM form a squad known as Olympic 2000 with a combination of 1997 youth squad and other under 23 players. FAM decided to include Olympic 2000 as one of the team in Malaysia League. Their first match was against Johor FA in qualification match for Malaysia Premier I League. The team won their first match away 1–0 before drawing 1–1 at home to qualify for Malaysia Premier I League. However the team finishes bottom during 1998 season with only 4 win in 22 matches. The Olympic 2000 also show poor performance in international stage. They were humiliated by the Thailand Asian Games squad in a 1998 friendly match as the Thai's beat them 9–0. During the qualification matches, Olympic 2000 only manage to finish third behind Hong Kong and Japan. It is questionable among the fans how a squad who was playing together since 1995 given so much exposure and with fine talent cannot achieve the expectation.
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